Page 11 of The Husband Game

“No.” Dustin chuckled as he locked the door behind him. “We were good boys. I had clean clothes brought up for Charlie, then we ordered breakfast and kept our friends away.”

“I know it probably seems like paranoia, but in situations like this, we can’t be too careful until we have a media plan in place.”

“No, I get it.” Dustin gestured to the dining room table nearby. “Feel free to set your stuff up wherever.”

“Hey, it’s like being at home,” Wade joked.

Dustin laughed again.

A few months ago, Wade had essentially blown up the sports agency world when he’d helped several members of the Evanston River Otters’ team expose a toxic and abusive player to the public.

It had led to him quitting his job at Premier Talent, one of the top North American agencies.

He’d started his own agency, along with a handful of people who had also left the company, and they were now working from Wade’s dining room table.

Sticking with Wade as his agent was complicated, and the amount of legal work required to untangle that mess with the agency was a headache and a half.

But Dustin had never been gladder.

He trusted Wade, and if anyone could guide him through figuring out how to deal with a rather scandalous marriage to a guy he didn’t actually know that well, it was Wade Cannon.

“Dustin, why don’t you introduce me to your new husband and we’ll get to work on figuring out how we want to deal with this.”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t refer to me as Dustin’s husband,” Charlie said, his tone perfectly polite but somehow still so sharp it could cut someone. “Call me Charlie, please.”

“Apologies. Great to officially meet you, Charlie,” Wade said with a gleaming smile that creased his tan skin and made his eyes crinkle at the corners.

Not really Dustin’s type, but Dustin could certainly see the appeal.

Dustin took a seat across from his agent and beside Charlie who discreetly shifted until there was no possible way they could accidentally touch.

Which … ouch.

Charlie was displeased about this whole marriage thing but damn. They’d been all over each other last night.

“So. Why don’t you start at the beginning?” Wade suggested.

“Uhh, how we met?” Dustin asked.

“I meant last night but yes, you might as well take us back to how you started dating.”

Charlie laughed but it sounded a little hysterical. “We haven’t been dating. We barely know each other. We’ve run into each other a few times through mutual friends and annoyed the shit out of each other every time. We can barely stand each other.”

“I like you,” Dustin pointed out.

Charlie rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath that sounded an awful lot like, “well I don’t like you.”

Wade scribbled something on a notepad. “So, these mutual friends …?”

“Jamie Walsh is a close friend of mine,” Dustin explained.

“And he’s dating my best friend, Taylor Hollis,” Charlie finished.

Wade smiled. “Got it.”

As large as the NHL and figure skating worlds seemed from the outside, they could be small once you were in them. Everyone was connected to everyone else.

There were only so many rinks and training centers, even in a major city like Chicago, and for families like Dustin’s—who had kids in both sports—it was inevitable that there were overlaps.

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